Colors & Memory

Title

The Affect of Color on Memory

Problem Scenario

Someone would want to study this because the results could help students study,or aid adults in remembering important things.

Broad Question

What affects memory?

Specific Question

Does text color affect memory?

Hypothesis

The color red will affect memory the greatest.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

text color

Dependent Variable:

dates memorized

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

test subject age, test subject gender, text size, test subject interest

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

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stimulate- (verb) to rouse to action or effort

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psychological- (adjective) pertaining to the mind or to the mental phenomena

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General Plan

Four different groups of kids (same age, even mix of genders) will be assembled. Another four historical dates will be written in a certain color, either black, yellow, red or blue on an index card. The event that occurred on that date will be written on the back of the index card in black. Each group of children will be assigned a certain color, and they'll be asked to memorize the dates. The group that has the most success has the color that affects memory the most.

Potential Problems And Solutions

I may not have enough people of the same age group to test, or a quiet environment to use for the experiment. I'll try my best, and possibly go to Conway Elementary to get students of the same age, and ask for a teacher to direct us to a friendly space to use.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

migraines, paper cuts, eye strain

Experimental Design

What is your experimental unit?

4 historical events

Number Of Trials

4 (once for each color)

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

six people

Number of Observations:

24

When data will be collected

At least by March

Where will data be collected?:

Mr. Littlefield's science classroom (B-9), Team One Hallway, Kennett Middle School

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
poster board	1	Staples	$7.79
index cards	16	Staples	$2.99
markers	4	my home	NA

Detailed Procedure

1. Assemble four groups of six seventh graders (three girls and three boys), and assign them a color (black, red, yellow, blue).
2. Write down the same historical event in black marker on the back of four index cards. Repeat for three other events.
3. Next, write the date the events occurred on, on the front of the index card. On four of them write the date black, and on the next four in red, then the next four in blue, and the last four in yellow.
4. Take each person from the black group and show them the dates/events that are in black for thirty seconds each. Then, ask them to retell the events and the date the occurred on. Record the number of correct dates they recall.
5. Repeat for each group.
6. The group that remembers the most dates/events was the group with the color that most affects memory.

Diagram

Photo List

cards
showing person cards
test subject thinking

Time Line

March 5, 2013- gather materials
March 7, 2013- start with the blue group
March 17, 2013- finish with the last yellow person

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Data Table

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Blue	Red	Black	Yellow
Annee- 1	Robert- 1	Kirk- 4	Cody- 2
Kathryn- 2	Marcus- 3	Kenzie- 3	Eddie- 4
Laurel- 1	Zac- 3	Will G.- 2	Will H.- 4
Eli- 3	Emily K.- 4	Taylor P.- 2	Taylor N.- 2
Ian- 4	Nicole- 2	Kasiah- 2	Emily A.- 4
Jack- 4	Caitlyn- 1	Belle- 2	Ali - 2
Average- 2.5	Average- 2.3	Average- 2.5	Average- 3

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

See graph.

Graphs

Photos

Results

After testing, the results showed a variety of things.The average number of dates memorized for blue as the text color was 2.5, and black had the same result. Red had the smallest average, only 2.3 dates were memorized on average. Finally, the color yellow had the highest average. 3 dates were memorized on average by the people who saw the dates in yellow.

Conclusion

Text color can affect memory, and yellow has the most positive effect.

Discussion

Benefit to Community and/or Science

Knowing whether or not text color can affect memory could be a major contribution to society. Students could easily memorize notes and study for tests, and their grades would go up. Having a good memory would no longer be a skill but something that everyone had, because every note or writing piece that needed to be memorized would be yellow or some other warm color that stimulates the mind. Adults may need to memorize information too, and if they highlight the info or write in a bright yellow color, they might have an easier time.

Background Research

After I conducted my experiment, I went back and did some background research about whether or not text color affects memory. I found out that stimulating colors enhance memory. Cool colors (blues, greens, purples) don't stimulate, but relax the mind, so they don't affect memory positively. Warm colors, (red, yellow) though, are more stimulating, thus more memorable. Also, black and white are not as memorable as natural colors. Another site I saw said that all colors help memory, background color or font color, anything to make the words stand out. On another website, I read about color psychology. The color yellow (the one my experiment has concluded has the most affect on memory) supposedly is psychologically associated with intelligence, memory, and organization.

References

http://www.ehow.com/info_8558418_color-affecting-memory.html
http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_memory1.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/27066/psychology/nlcolorpsych.html

Abstract

What if there were a way to make it easier to memorize words? Tests would be easier to study for, and you wouldn't even have to spend hours looking at the same information. Life as a student would probably get easier, and some grades would go up. In my project, I tested 24 thirteen year old kids with their memory. My results concluded that the color yellow makes it easier for someone to memorize the words, and there are a few reasons for that. Warm colors awaken the senses (stimulate) and your mind gets alert when it sees that color. Another reason is because yellow is a color associated psychologically with memory. Imagine how much easier things would be if books were printed in yellow. What if scripts for drama productions were all yellow, or teachers wrote in yellow on white boards? The people who bothered to look at those words would have the ability to memorize anything thrown at them. What if a scientist in a big university elaborated on this subject? Maybe there would be a new regulation in the United States, and it life would change, all because of a few words and colors.